Marathon Announces 7-Day Flaring at Carson, CA Refinery

MIAMI, FL (DTN) – Marathon Petroleum has reported a scheduled ongoing flaring event at its 365,000 bpd Carson, California refinery, according to a notice filed with the South Coast Air Quality Management District seen on Friday (5/22).

The flaring, which began Thursday (5/21) at 2:33 p.m. PT and expected to continue through Thursday (5/28) 1:30 p.m. PT, is part of a “planned maintenance” event, Marathon said in the notice.

The Carson refinery has periodically reported flaring tied to maintenance work and operational adjustments as refiners across the U.S. West Coast prepare for peak summer fuel demand and tighter California gasoline specifications.

Marathon has reported five flaring events at Carson so far in May, including three tied to planned maintenance activity and two linked to emergency operational issues.

The latest filing comes as the West Coast refining system adjusts to capacity loss from the shutdown of Phillips 66’s 139,000 bpd Los Angeles refinery and ongoing idling of Valero’s 145,000 bpd Benicia plant that have together tightened regional fuel supply.